MagicYoYo REX Specs:

MagicYoYo has long been a standard for super affordable, entry-level yoyos but with recent projects like the Skyva and Metal Skyva with Jeffrey Pang they have begun moving into higher quality, specialty releases. The MagicYoYo REX is the culmination of this…a titanium/stainless steel bi-metal yoyo designed in collaboration with Yixing Tan. The result is absolutely stunning…the MagicYoYo REX plays with speed and power only available with this kind of extraordinary weight distribution.

The body is machined out of titanium, a high strength/low weight ratio material that has become more popular among yoyo companies. According to MagicYoYo, processing each piece of titanium body takes more than 45 minutes, and when you include processing and assembling the stainless steel rim it takes approximately 1 hour to fabricate one half of a REX yoyo; that’s almost 15 times as long as making a normal aluminum yoyo half. The REX has a body thickness of only 0.5 to 0.7 mm…the same thickness as a few sheets of paper.

The rims are made of high-density stainless steel. The edge of the outer rim is only 2.17mm, which makes the whole yoyo seem to possess a homogeneous thickness, like a single, smooth arc. This makes the REX feel very comfortable in the hand and very pleasing to the eye, but the real function is weight distribution. The rims account for over 55% of the total weight of the yoyo, making for absolutely incredible spin times.

PLAY

The MagicYoYo Rex is one of the absolute fastest and most stable competition yoyos on the market. There is always a lot of discussion about “speed combos” among competitive players, and this is the kind of yoyo that can help make you a speed player or accelerate your existing speed combos in a way that you have to try to believe. Some yoyos have a natural tendency towards faster or slower play, and while equipment is not a substitute for practice, having a yoyo that just naturally plays faster can definitely give you an edge. The MagicYoYo REX plays faster. From the gap to the materials to the weight distribution, everything about the REX is built for pure speed, and it definitely delivers.

It’s very easy to buy into hype for a high-end release, but the MagicYoYo REX really does deliver a play experience on-par with the Luftverk Fulvia BTM or the Something Anglam TISS…extraordinary speed, stability, control, and quality at the highest-end of the production spectrum.

LOOKS

There is a lot of beauty to be found in simplicity, and the MagicYoYo REX delivers on a very simple aesthetic that makes it feel even more like a premium art object. The REX was designed with heavy inspiration from the Bauhaus art movement. From TheArtStory.org:

The motivations behind the creation of the Bauhaus lay in the 19th century, in anxieties about the soullessness of manufacturing and its products, and in fears about art’s loss of purpose in society. Creativity and manufacturing were drifting apart, and the Bauhaus aimed to unite them once again, rejuvenating design for everyday life.

With this aesthetic and philosophy in mind, the REX was created to be functional, simple, pleasing to the eye and hand, and reflect an ideal of creativity into an inanimate object. The result is incredibly appealing to the eye and to the hand.

VALUE

The MagicYoYo REX retails for $469 USD. This is a truly premium item, manufacturing to exacting tolerances out of the best materials available, and the price tag definitely reflects that. That said, it’s still $100-$400 less expensive than similar titanium/steel bi-metal yoyos from other manufacturers…so if you are looking to try out the ultra-high end of the market for titanium bi-metals, this is a perfect way to start with great quality and value.

I cannot possibly stress enough that YOU SHOULD NOT DO THIS. That said, enjoy watching a yoyo with razor blades destroy everything in its path. (History lesson: first razor blade yoyo was created by Mark Faje, a juggler from Chicago who does a lot of stuff with knives in his show. I made my own and nearly got disqualified when I used it in my freestyle at the 1997 World YoYo Contest. Stupid things like this have a long and glorious history in yoyoing.)

I cannot possibly stress enough that YOU SHOULD NOT DO THIS. That said, enjoy watching a yoyo with razor blades destroy everything in its path.

(History lesson: first razor blade yoyo was created by Mark Faje, a juggler from Chicago who does a lot of stuff with knives in his show. I made my own and nearly got disqualified when I used it in my freestyle at the 1997 World YoYo Contest. Stupid things like this have a long and glorious history in yoyoing. Once again: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.)

Professional YoYo Performer, Super Dad, A+ Husband, and all-around excellent human being John Higby performed on the newest iteration of The Gong Show the other night! As usual, John wowed the audience, the judges, and even the suspiciously familiar host Tommy Maitland.

Professional YoYo Performer, Super Dad, A+ Husband, and all-around excellent human being John Higby performed on the newest iteration of ABC’s The Gong Show the other night! As usual, John wowed the audience, the judges, and even the host Tommy Maitland.

As is tradition with John, he painted a custom one-of-a-kind yoyo for the host. Tommy loved it!

Coffin Nachtmahr & the Early Light Media team accepting an Emmy for Short Format Program at the #CapsEmmys. Photo: Paul Gessler

We’re thrilled to announce that the documentary THROW, featuring Coffin Nachtmahr, has won a regional Emmy award! Huge congratulations to Coffin and the Early Light Media team for this well-deserved win! (Skip to 48:28 to see them accept their award)

Gentry Stein is kicking off his teen heart throb career nice and proper with a starring role in the new video from Baby Raptors for their song “Strings”. He plays an empathetic bartender with a big fat crush on the lead singer, whose boyfriend is a total jerkwad. True love and yoyo tricks ensue. Nice work from Gentry, and a nice looking video to make yoyoing look cool to the general public. Congrats, Gentry!

He’s also been doing some pretty crazy appearances to promote the release…like a shirtless routine with glow body paint.

US National YoYo Day is celebrated on June 6th each year in memory of Donald Duncan Sr., the entrepreneur credited with popularizing yoyos in the US. To celebrate, our friends at YoYoExpert.com are having a special sale…15% off everything storewide!

Just enter code YOYODAY2017 at checkout for 15% off your total purchase. Offer is good until 12pm EST, June 8th.

I’m excited to announce the official launch of PurpleYoYo.org, a new resource for members of the yoyo community struggling with depression and mental illness.

I’ve been working on this for a little over a year now. I announced the project publicly at a very emotional meeting at last year’s World YoYo Contest, and I have to admit it’s been very difficult to get to this point. But the enormity of creating a program like this is nothing compared to the task of actually living with these illnesses, so I kept things moving and here we finally are…and now it’s time to ask for your help.

The goals of PurpleYoYo are to:

Raise Awareness

Remove Stigma

Provide Help

We’d like to have the PurpleYoYo icon on every single yoyo contest backdrop in the world, every year, so that every player who attends a contest sees it and understands that someone cares, and help is available. We want the PurpleYoYo icon on every piece of yoyo packaging, so that everyone who buys a yoyo knows that they are part of a community that cares, wants the best for them, and is willing to help. I want players to know that they are part of a community that has space for them to openly talk about their struggles, and I want them to know that help is available. I just don’t want anyone to feel like they have to fight this alone. Because they don’t.

We have a listing of local resources for every country we could find on the Get Help section of our site, and encourage people to email us if any information is out of date, or if they have additional resources for us to add. As we build up our volunteer staff, we’ll be attending more and more contests and working to provide access to mental health professionals for any players who are in need.

I hope you’ll join us in supporting those members of the community who need our help. Please check our Volunteer page for ways you can help.

West Coast yoyo players will immediately recognize Chris Garcia, a CA-based juggler who is a fixture at local yoyo events with his diabolo performances. Chris was attacked earlier this week, and is quite a few surgeries away from truly being back on his feet. Chris’ sister has set up a fundraising page to raise money for his medical expenses. If you can donate, please do…if you can’t, then please share!

On the morning of February 20th, my brother Chris was viciously attacked by 3 people during a strong arm robbery. He was able to escape and ran a mile where a Good Samaritan notified emergency services on his behalf. Upon our arrival to ICU we found him unrecognizable due to the extent of his injuries. We are thanking God he is alive and healing, but are deeply saddened and broken inside at the thought that someone could do this to such a beautiful, caring and compassionate person.

As many of you know, Chris is a computer gaming engineer as well as a professional juggler. Due to his injuries, he is currently unable to do what he loves to do the most.

As a juggler, he has brought joy to thousands of people. He has won countless juggling contests and often travels to participate in events (he was scheduled to leave this weekend for one in Texas). He’s performed at events as small as backyard birthday parties up to large scale festivities such as California Great America’s Halloween Haunt. If you’re lucky, you can catch him practicing at a local park or school. One can’t pass by him without being awe struck or hearing “man, that is so awesome!”. Needless to say, juggling is a big part of who Chris is.

When he’s not doing events, he’s teaching others the art of diabolo spinning, working on his own line of products or engineering… something!

Out of all the people in this world, our Chris is the least deserving of this type of heinous act.

As you can imagine, medical expenses are quickly adding up. He had surgery to his shoulder, and will require facial reconstructive surgery in a few weeks. I am trying to ease the financial burden this situation is weighing on my brother. He was in the middle of moving, and now has to worry about extensive medical bills on top of it. He was uninsured at the time of the incident.

Any help you can give is greatly appreciated. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

We are a bit late on this, but our good friend Masanobu Iwata sends word about this year’s first 44FESTA, held on January 14th!

Go check out the event report for all the goods, and be sure to check this edition’s freestyle contest! The 2017 Japanese League is currently being held all around the country, and several contestants are using every opportunity they can to hone their freestyles!

The Scales Podcast is quickly shaping up to be a great resource for yoyo players to dig deeper into the intricacies of this glorious little subculture we’ve created for ourselves. Check out two new episodes!

In episode 2 of the Scales Podcast, team members Andrew Bergen and Mark Mangarin interview one of the industry’s most intelligent minds in the realm of social media, team management, and design; Chris Mikulin! Some topics that are mentioned in this feature are future plans for Caribou Lodge, sub-brands of CLYW such as Heaven Sent and Pool Party, Basecamp, and more!

For new players, sponsorship can be seen as one of the most daunting and confusing aspects of yo-yo. Scales team members Andrew Bergen and Mark Mangarin reflect upon their experiences as sponsored players, talk about what they feel as though the true definition of being sponsored is, as well as even give prime examples of great representatives of this generation. Give Episode 3 of the podcast a listen in order to enhance your perspective of what being sponsored really means! Thank you to our sponsors: YoYoExpert, Caribou Lodge, and Recess International!

44FESTA has reached its 20th edition (!) and in addition to the usual games and freestyle competition, Fist Salud brings us this trick compilation video with some jaw-dropping moves! Check out Yamato Fujiwara’s insane 1A+2A trick! Also a special guest appearance by the living legend and coolest guy ever Shingo Terada!

Be sure to check out the official event report for freestyle results and videos, and a tasty peek at the afterparty snacks!

So apparently, on January 21st, 1933, yoyos were banned in Syria by superstitious Muslims who believed they were causing a drought.

Luckily, nowadays we have things like The Weather Channel to clear up the causes of such things. So while our favorite toy is still referred to erroneously as an “ancient hunting weapon” by people who swear up and down they learned it in school, at least we can be sure that yoyos don’t chase away rain and kill crops. Thanks, science!

And thanks to Ben McPhee for finding this gem of an article and passing it along.